Owls and Crows

 

This winter crows have taken over the county. I've never seen so many flocking around the trees and fields. Watching waves of them, a dozen at a time, congregate around the school yard while we were waiting to pick up Ryanne was especially creepy. I counted over a hundred fly in, and I don't know how many were sitting around before we got there.

So a couple of weeks ago, I heard the shrieking cacophony of more than a dozen crows moving through the neighborhood, I knew they must be chasing an owl. When they got to my back yard I stepped outside, clapping my hands at them. It almost quieted them for a moment, but they still wanted to get that owl. I continued clapping, with an occasional shout. After a minute or two, some flew away, leaving only six or eight perched around the firs.

By then I had spotted their victim, a barred owl high in a Douglas fir crouching so close to the trunk that it blended in very well. The crows might even have lost sight of it except for one, out-of-place Stellar jay. It's survival instinct must have been missing because it was siding with the crows. One shriek from the jay, and the crows got excited again. I couldn't think of any way of getting rid of them except distracting them with noise, and I wasn't willing to do that all day either.

After just a few minutes, while the owl remained huddled against the tree trunk, the crows started to fly away. Then I had an epiphany. Crows have a short attention span. My noise making was enough to to make them forget what they were so excited about.

Just a thought to carry with you during this political season.

Nancy Sherer

 

 


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